The Countdown

There are a few approaches to how we look at Halloween.  There's the horrifying, utterly grotesque side of goblins and ghouls and bloodied body parts alluded to in the Sunday newspaper flyers and on the Walmart shelves.  Then there's the cute, sweet side of rolls of Smarties, making handprint spiders, and weeks of trying on princess and froggie costumes from our stored Halloween tubs.  Depending upon the time of day, it's all fun.

We have neighbors down the street who really go all out in decorating their front yard.  Mr. B. spends all of October setting up his own cemetery, stringing huge spider webs, inflating the Grim Reaper's chariot, and installing batteries in the eye-blinking/ghost-howling/mummy-shaking/rat-gnawing ornamentations that adorn his trees and front porch. 

At night it's justifiably spooky.  But in the light of day it's absolutely fascinating, and our daily walks either start or end up with a prolonged visit at "The Halloween House".  We hope Mr. B. doesn't tire of our pestering, because his efforts have given a lot of joy to the children in this house.  He has ramped up the kids' Halloween Anticipation volume single-handedly (and you'll find the other hand, gooped in fake blood, hanging out of the wishing well by the sidewalk). 

The anticipation, though, is less about flying bats and all about getting The Loot.  Our little town really gets into the spirit and is known for super generous candy distribution.  Older couples spend days in front of their TVs assembling bags of goodies and trinkets to pass out to Trick-or-Treaters.  At some houses you'll get cans of pop, gift certificates, or even full sized candy bars.  And when you Trick-or-Treat at a house, you don't get one measley piece of candy, you might get handfuls!  Even better, you might get offered the whole bowl to grab as you wish!

All this, of course, has the potential to demonize even the loveliest of princesses.  But the reason people are so generous is because they know one another.  On All Hallow's Eve, people visit at doorsteps before moving on to the next home.  They dote and fuss over the children and take pictures. The Spidermen and Harry Potters and Cinderellas are kids you've been watching grow up for years and years now.  And when some of these kids are old enough to drive, they still come around to visit and collect canned food for the local food pantry.  You get a sense of "Neighborhood",  and on one thrilling night you get to see the bare bones of what makes up your community. 

And you find yourself looking forward to The Countdown.